Chapter 14: The Iron Eagles

They moved under the cover of night. Dravisha had enveloped them in a blanket of darkness as she had promised. The camp’s torches were alight, and Jenny could see several figures in Landsknecht uniforms move. They carried either muskets or halberds, and wore colourful clothing with wide-brimmed hats that had big feathers sticking out. Their clothing was so over-the-top flamboyant that Jenny found them ridiculous, but she had to admit they had a weird charm.

None of the guards could see her; Dravisha’s magic held true. Their eyes sometimes scanned directly over where they stood, making Jenny’s heart palpitate, but much to her relief, they noticed nothing. It felt unsettling how their gazes passed right through her so vacantly. They tiptoed past the guards until they reached a stable of horses.

Dravisha turned to Jenny and whispered, “Are you thinking what I am thinking?”

“No, what are you thinking?”

Dravisha subtly nodded in the direction of the stable.

Jenny’s eyes followed her gesture, and she tsked. “This is a stupid idea.”

“With horses, we’d be so much faster.”

“How are we going to steal horses from right under the noses of those guards?”

“Simple, we kill them silently, then we take the horses quietly, and once we are a good distance away, we ride them.”

“This is a stupid idea.”

“You already said that.”

“Well, I am repeating it to emphasize how stupid of an idea this is.”

“Stupid can be genius if it works.”

“No.”

“Yes, so let’s do it, Jenny Nyxandra Nachtdorn. I’m not walking for who knows how long just because you’re too much of a wuss.”

Jenny felt a hook penetrate her heart, pulling her towards the nearly insurmountable draw to comply with the Demoness’s will. A cold current surged through her veins, raising goosebumps as she fought the dizzying urge to obey. She clenched her fists, shaking off the feeling. "Don’t do that," she hissed quietly.

“Fine, but only if you let me steal those horses,” Dravisha whispered innocently.

“Ugh, fine.”

Three guards stood near the stables, completely unaware of their impending doom. Dravisha snuck up on the man furthest to the left, while Jenny crept up to the man on the right. Dravisha had her obsidian dagger ready; Jenny, her flamberge dagger.

They looked at each other before commencing a simultaneous take-down. Jenny slit a red smile across the neck of the guard, clutching his mouth closed so he couldn’t alert anyone. She had angled the cut so that the blood splattered down instead of up.

Dravisha similarly held the mouth closed of the guard she killed, but she had repeatedly stabbed him in the heart instead. No need to worry about blood splatter when there was no muscle pumping blood in the first place. Dravisha loved a clean kill with minimal blood gushing about. It’s more stealthy and therefore more aligned with her shadow nature. The third guard whirled around to see his colleagues fall, only for Dravisha’s dagger to impale his face the very next second. She had flung the implement at him and then resummoned it into her hand before the guard dropped to the floor.

In a matter of seconds, all three guards were dead on the ground, and the stables were unguarded.

"See? Easy as taking candy from a baby. What were you even worried about?" Dravisha whispered.

Jenny shook her head. "We aren’t done yet, and there were so many things that could have gone wrong."

"What’s the point of living without risk?" Dravisha asked as she entered the stable. She eyed the row of horses, assessing the quality of each mare until she found a nice, strong black courser that suited her.

"My, what a pretty fellow," she murmured, opening the stall. Dark shadows crept from her hands into the mare as she used a bewitching spell to make the horse more docile.

Jenny followed her, searching for a horse of her own. The first horse she reached for, a small garron, tried to bite her. She looked further until she found a brown courser with a white stripe down its muzzle. She reached out, placing her hand on its nose. It snorted before calming down. She petted it until the mare seemed to accept her.

Before they could exit the stable, they saw lanterns headed in their direction. Two patrol guards headed directly for the stable where the dead corpses lay. Jenny held her breath, and Dravisha shrouded them in the darkness of the stable, but the bodies remained visible. They would have to hope the guards wouldn't spot them in the gloom.

“We should’ve moved the bodies inside,” Jenny whispered.

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“Too late now.”

The guards were now right next to the bodies. They didn’t seem to have noticed until one of them stumbled on the leg of one of the corpses.

“Shit, what the hell,” He muttered and looked down. “Oh my G—”

He didn’t get to finish before receiving an obsidian dagger to the face. The other guard turned to face his comrade before screaming, “Murder!”

Dravisha resummoned her dagger and flung it at the second guard, killing him, but the alarm was already raised.

“Change of plans, let’s ride,” Dravisha said as she swung on the saddle of her horse. “Hiya,” she shouted as she spurred the Courser into a gallop.

Jenny followed suit. The camp erupted into chaos. Half awake mercenaries stumbled out of tents, still rubbing their bleary eyes as they looked around confused. The sound of pounding feet echoed through the camp as those already awake rushed toward the stables. Jenny muttered a string of curses under her breath as they charged towards the exit of the encampment. Hooves thundered against the packed dirt. In front of them, a group of Landsknecht prepared to intercept them with halberds and muskets.

Jenny and Dravisha veered sharply to the right just as a volley of shots tore through the air, narrowly missing them. They leapt over a stack of crates, landing smoothly on another stretch of road. The mercenaries thankfully seemed a little hesitant to shoot randomly inside their own encampment for fear of hitting one of their own, giving Jenny and Dravisha plenty of room to breathe.

Jenny pulled out her Dussack, charging at a group of mercenaries trying to block the exit. She unleashed a wind blast, making them stumble. Dravisha followed up with a barrage of shadow blasts, the dark missiles exploding against their cuirasses and searing into exposed skin, dissolving it like wax under flame. Their agonized screams pierced the night, raw and anguished, mingling with the acrid stench of corruption and the metallic tang of blood.

The screams were abruptly silenced as Jenny thundered past them on her horse, her saber flashing in the dim light. Geysers of blood erupted from their bodies, arcs of crimson splattering the packed dirt road as her blade carved through their bodies with little resistance. The momentum of her charge flung the lifeless bodies aside like rag dolls, their broken gurgles fading into silence as they thudded to the ground.

They rode out into the open plains, the scenery blurring past them in streaks of moonlit grass and shadowed earth. It didn’t take long for the sound of pursuit to reach them—hooves thundering against the packed dirt, growing louder with each passing second. Jenny spurred her horse onward, leaning low over its neck to reduce wind resistance.

As one of the riders drew close enough to raise his gun, Dravisha flung a shadow dagger behind her. It struck the enemy horse squarely in the chest, sending it stumbling and crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust. The animal squealed in terror as it rolled along from its momentum, kicking wildly.

“I’ll cover your rear,” Dravisha called out, slowing her courser slightly. She unleashed a flurry of shadow daggers, forcing the pursuers to scatter. Jenny surged ahead, putting distance between herself and the chaos.

Among the riders was Kurt Eisener, a lieutenant of the Eisener Adler Company and a master artificer who had spent years perfecting a repeating air musket. The stock of the weapon was outfitted with a pressurized air canister, and it held twenty shots. His enchanted night goggles allowed him to see at night as clear as day. He aimed the air rifle at the horse of Dravisha and, with a silent puff, managed to cleanly shoot into the abdomen of the mare.

The black courser gave an agonizing whine but continued on its trajectory in spite of its pain. It was fuelled by its own panic as it galloped for its already fading life.

Dravisha looked around confused as she had no idea what had hit her horse before another clean hit tore into the shoulder of the horse. The sudden loss of momentum from its forelegs caused the horse to faceplant as its hind legs swung up into the air. Dravisha was catapulted off the falling beast, her body twisting mid-air as she transformed into her demonic form. Her leathery wings snapped open with a crack, catching the wind just inches above the ground. She glided briefly before landing in a crouch, claws digging into the earth.

“Demon!” came awed gasps from the mercenary riders.

Dravisha paid them no heed, her blood-red eyes blazing with fury. Rising swiftly with a few beats of her wings, she launched a series of shadow daggers from both hands, striking several enemy horses and sending their riders tumbling. She spared a glance back at Jenny, noting with satisfaction that her witch had gained a significant lead. With powerful beats of her wings, she propelled herself skyward and shouted, “Ride! I’ll handle these fools and catch up later.” Jenny nodded, urging her horse onward.

Kurt continued to shoot at Dravisha. A few of his anti-magic balls grazed her, causing ichor to spatter from the shallow wounds. Dravisha gritted her teeth with a hiss of pain as she conjured a ball of darkness, which she unleashed as a shadow blast. The artificer threw himself off his horse before the dark missile impacted on his steed, melting the poor creature as it whined.

Kurt rolled aside as Dravisha unleashed a volley of shadow daggers. He quickly pulled out his pallasch sword, parrying a number of the blades, and got back to his feet. The pallasch was coated with anti-magic properties, allowing it to disperse the mana from her attacks.

“Bloody demon,” He growled as he pulled out an artificer’s pepperbox and started firing anti-magic balls. One of the balls managed to hit Dravisha in the shoulder, drawing a shrill cry from the Demoness. “Go back to hell.”

Fury flooded Dravisha as she finally snapped. She summoned her shadow tendrils and attacked from multiple directions simultaneously. Kurt became overwhelmed as he tried to frantically cut the tendrils down as they reached for him, one of which snaked up his arm, clutching his pepperbox. It tore the pistol from his grasp before he could slice it apart.

Dravisha rushed at him with a barrage of shadow daggers. Several embedded themselves in his thick leather coat, but the armour's powerful enchantments held fast, saving his life. Before Dravisha could properly finish him off, a barrage of gunshots distracted her. More ichor exploded from wounds as some of the balls struck her.

The other mercenaries rushed to the aid of their lieutenant, and more mercenary riders stormed out of the encampment.

“Lucky bastard,” Dravisha hissed as she swiftly took to the sky. She knew when she was outmatched and needed to retreat. Sure, she was reckless, but she wasn’t suicidal. She had to do a barrel roll as she avoided another barrage of gunshots.

“Get back here, demon. You shan’t escape the wrath of the righteous, god-fearing Eisener Adler Company. We shall destroy you in the name of the lord, you evil, corrupt miscreant,” Kurt shouted, enraged while blood seeped from his mouth. “Die in the name of the lord.” He fired his pepperbox repeatedly

Dravisha scoffed, dodging the bullets. For good measure, she unleashed a few shadow daggers at the mercenaries, killing those caught off guard. “Too bad you don’t have wings,” Dravisha mocked and flew away.